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Biz Asia

In Japan, First Asian Mad Cow

Aired September 11, 2001 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DALTON TANONAKA, CNN ANCHOR: Asia's first-known case of mad cow disease has surfaced in Japan. Government officials say chances of a serious outbreak are low, but Singapore has already decided to suspend Japanese beef imports. Japanese meat exporter Starzen slumped 11.5 percent on the news. McDonald's Japan fell 2.5 percent, even though the company says all its beef is imported. Shares of fisheries jumped out of the water in neighboring South Korea.

Peter Hadfield has more on the Japanese mad cow discovery.

PETER HADFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 5-year-old cow at a farm near Tokyo has been diagnosed in the disease. At a news conference, agriculture minister Tsutomu Takebe promised not to keep the public in the dark about the extent of the problem.

TSUTOMU TAKEBE, JAPANESE AGRICULTURE MINISTER (through translator): We hope to disclose as much information as possible, so to not cause anxiety among the people of Japan. On top of that, we will do whatever we possibly can.

HADFIELD: The government is aware of the kind of panic that can be induced by food scares. Last year, tainted milk killed one person and sickened thousands. Following that, the media reported on dozens of cases of tainted food, and many food companies saw sales plummet.

It's not clear how the cow actually contracted BSE, which is normally passed through infected feed.

TAKEBE: The cow has already been disposed of and has not been used for food. The Agriculture Ministry has formed a committee to deal with this, and we are also investigating where the cow came from and what it had eaten, and we're also working on steps to isolate the other cows at the farm.

HADFIELD: This is the first case of BSE in Japan and in Asia. Other Asian countries are watching the situation carefully, and South Korea and Singapore have imposed a ban on Japanese imported beef, in response to the scare.

Peter Hadfield, CNN, Tokyo.

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